The 2003 Ford 300 was the 34th and final race of the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series and the 9th iteration of this event. The race was held at Homestead–Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The race had six drivers contend for the Busch Series championship. Greg Biffle won the pole while Jamie McMurray led the most laps but it was Kasey Kahne taking home his first ever win of his whole NASCAR career. In the championship battle, Brian Vickers won the championship, his first and only in the Busch Series at the age of 20 years old becoming the youngest driver to ever win the Busch Series Championship until Chase Elliott broke the record in 2014 at the age of 18.
Background Homestead–Miami Speedway is a motor racing track located in Homestead, Florida. The track, which has several configurations, has promoted several series of racing, including NASCAR, the IndyCar Series, the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series, and the Championship Cup Series.
From 2002 to 2019, Homestead–Miami Speedway hosted the final race of the season in all three of NASCAR's series as Ford Championship Weekend: the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The races currently have the names Dixie Vodka 400, Contender Boats 250, and Baptist Health 200, respectively.
Championship battle The race had six drivers contend for the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series championship with those six being Ron Hornaday Jr., Brian Vickers, Scott Riggs, Bobby Hamilton Jr., David Green, and Jason Keller. All were looking for their first Busch Series title except for Green who was the 1994 Busch Series champion. The points lead had also changed a total of 17 times over the 33 races including the points lead changing 7 times over the last 8 races.
Brian Vickers was the points leader coming into the race looking to become the youngest Busch Series champion in its history at 20 years old. Vickers had spent the last two seasons driving for his father Clyde Vickers before he got the call to drive the No. 5 car that was previously driven and currently owned by Rick Hendrick's son Ricky Hendrick. Both Vickers and Ricky would become close to one another during the season. David Green was 22 points behind in 2nd and was looking to become the 6th driver in Busch Series history to win multiple championships alongside drivers Jack Ingram, Sam Ard, Larry Pearson, Randy LaJoie, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ron Hornaday was 39 points back in 3rd and was looking for his first Busch Series title after he had won two Craftsman Truck Series titles in 1996 and 1998. Jason Keller was 70 points back in 4th and was looking for his first Busch Series title after he finished in the top 5 in points over the last 3 seasons with points finishes of 2nd in 2000, 3rd in 2001, and 2nd in 2002. Scott Riggs was 85 points back in 5th and coming into the last race at Rockingham, he was the points leader. But Riggs hit the wall during the race and ended up not finishing the race which took him from first all the way back to 5th in the standings. During the season, the championship battle looked like it was gonna have 5 drivers contend until Bobby Hamilton Jr. came in, who was 369 points out of the lead after the 24th race at Bristol, and had built up enough consistency including two wins in the final 10 races at Memphis and Phoenix to be able to contend for the championship. Hamilton Jr. was 89 points back in 6th and was looking to shock everyone and win the championship.
Championship standings entering the race Brian Vickers, 4507 points David Green, –22 Ron Hornaday Jr., –39 Jason Keller, –70 Scott Riggs, –85 Bobby Hamilton Jr., –89 Scott Wimmer, –494 Johnny Sauter, –536 Kasey Kahne, –583 Stacy Compton, –714 Bold indicates drivers mathematically eligible for the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series championship
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver (CC#) denotes championship contender and where they rank in the standings Driver Team/Owner Manufacturer 00 Jason Leffler Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet 0 Gus Wasson Davis Motorsports Chevrolet 1 Jamie McMurray Phoenix Racing Dodge 02 Hermie Sadler SCORE Motorsports Ford 2 Ron Hornaday Jr. (CC3) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Mike Wallace Biagi Brothers Racing Chevrolet 5 Brian Vickers (CC1) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7 Greg Biffle Evans Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Martin Truex Jr. Chance 2 Motorsports Chevrolet 9 Morgan Shepherd Victory in Jesus Racing Ford 10 Scott Riggs (CC5) ppc Racing Ford 12 Tim Fedewa FitzBradshaw Racing Chevrolet 14 Casey Atwood FitzBradshaw Racing Chevrolet 15 Jon Wood ppc Racing Ford 16 Larry Gunselman Day Enterprises Racing Chevrolet 17 Matt Kenseth Reiser Enterprises Ford 18 Coy Gibbs (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 19 Casey Mears Braun Racing Dodge 20 Mike Bliss Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 21 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 23 Scott Wimmer Bill Davis Racing Chevrolet 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. (CC6) Team Rensi Motorsports Ford 26 Chad Blount (R) Carroll Racing Dodge 27 Chase Montgomery (R) Brewco Motorsports Pontiac 28 Brad Baker Gary Baker Racing Dodge 29 Johnny Sauter Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30 David Stremme (R) Braun Racing Dodge 31 Dave Blaney Marsh Racing Ford 33 Damon Lusk (R) BACE Motorsports Chevrolet 35 Elliott Sadler Team Rensi Motorsports Ford 36 Steve Grissom DCT Motorsports Chevrolet 37 David Green (CC2) Brewco Motorsports Pontiac 38 Kasey Kahne Akins Motorsports Ford 39 Clint Vahsholtz Jay Robinson Racing Ford 44 Mike Harmon GIC-Mixon Motorsports Chevrolet 46 Ashton Lewis Jr. Lewis Motorsports Chevrolet 48 Carlos Contreras Innovative Motorsports Chevrolet 49 Tammy Jo Kirk Jay Robinson Racing Ford 51 Stan Boyd Ware Racing Enterprises Chevrolet 56 Regan Smith (R) Mac Hill Motorsports Chevrolet 57 Jason Keller (CC4) ppc Racing Ford 59 Stacy Compton ST Motorsports Chevrolet 61 Justin Ashburn Day Enterprises Racing Chevrolet 73 Jason Schuler Havill-Spoerl Racing Ford 77 Derek Hayes Moy Racing Ford 79 Joe Aramendia Aramendia Motorsports Chevrolet 80 Mark Green Montgomery Motorsports Pontiac 82 Randy LaJoie FitzBradshaw Racing Chevrolet 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 89 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Reiser Enterprises Ford 92 Jeff Green Herzog-Jackson Motorsports Chevrolet 99 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Racing ChevroletOfficial Entry List
Qualifying Greg Biffle won the pole for the last race of the year with a time of 30.437 and a speed of 177.416 mph.
Starting Grid Grid Driver Team Manufacturer 1 7 Greg Biffle Evans Motorsports Chevrolet 2 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Team Rensi Motorsports Ford 3 38 Kasey Kahne Akins Motorsports Ford 4 21 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Ford 5 1 Jamie McMurray Phoenix Racing Dodge 6 5 Brian Vickers Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7 30 David Stremme (R) Braun Racing Dodge 8 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 9 8 Martin Truex Jr.* Chance 2 Motorsports Chevrolet 10 31 Dave Blaney Marsh Racing Ford 11 59 Stacy Compton ST Motorsports Chevrolet 12 37 David Green Brewco Motorsports Pontiac 13 02 Hermie Sadler SCORE Motorsports Ford 14 00 Jason Leffler Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet 15 35 Elliott Sadler Team Rensi Motorsports Ford 16 33 Damon Lusk (R) BACE Motorsports Chevrolet 17 2 Ron Hornady* Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 18 4 Mike Wallace Biagi Brothers Racing Chevrolet 19 56 Regan Smith (R) Mac Hill Motorsports Chevrolet 20 10 Scott Riggs ppc Racing Ford 21 29 Johnny Sauter Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 22 46 Ashton Lewis Lewis Motorsports Chevrolet 23 15 Jon Wood ppc Racing Ford 24 99 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Racing Chevrolet 25 17 Matt Kenseth Reiser Enterprises Ford 26 92 Jeff Green Herzog-Jackson Motorsports Chevrolet 27 19 Casey Mears Braun Racing Dode 28 20 Mike Bliss Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 29 0 Gus Wasson Davis Motorsports Chevrolet 30 57 Jason Keller ppc Racing Ford 31 80 Mark Green Montgomery Motorsports Pontiac 32 89 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Reiser Enterprises Ford 33 48 Carlos Contreras Innovative Motorsports Chevrolet 34 14 Casey Atwood FitzBradshaw Racing Chevrolet 35 26 Chad Blount (R) Carroll Racing Dodge 36 12 Tim Fedewa FitzBradshaw Racing Chevrolet 37 23 Scott Wimmer Bill Davis Racing Dodge 38 18 Coy Gibbs (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 39 27 Chase Montgomery (R) Brewco Motorsports Pontiac 40 77 Derek Hayes Moy Racing Ford 41 49 Tammy Jo Kirk Jay Robinson Racing Ford 42 16 Larry Gunselman Day Enterprises Racing Chevrolet 43 36 Steve Grissom DCT Motorsports ChevroletFailed to Qualify, driver changes, or withdrew 44 9 Morgan Shepherd Victory in Jesus Racing Ford 45 73 Jason Schuler Havill-Spoerl Racing Ford 46 39 Clint Vahsholtz Jay Robinson Racing Ford 47 61 Justin Ashburn Day Enterprises Racing Chevrolet 48 44 Mike Harmon GIC-Mixon Motorsports Chevrolet 49 51 Stan Boyd Ware Racing Enterprises Chevrolet 50 79 Joe Aramendia Aramendia Motorsports Chevrolet 51 28 Brad Baker Gary Baker Racing Dodge WD 82 Randy LaJoie FitzBradshaw Racing ChevroletOfficial Starting Grid
* - Ron Hornaday and Martin Truex Jr. both had to start at the rear of the field with Hornaday having a backup car and Truex having an engine change.
Race